CHICAGO (AP) Patrick Kane dazzled once again. Jonathan Toews put together one of his best seasons, and Alex DeBrincat took another step forward.

And it didn't matter all that much. Not to them, anyway.

The Chicago Blackhawks missed out on the playoffs for the second straight year, doomed by an awful start and one of the NHL's worst defenses. For a franchise that won three Stanley Cups during an impressive nine-year run that ended in 2017, it seems like a much longer absence from the postseason.